Years of irregularities
NOV. 7, 2018: Early in the morning, state election officials alert reporters and the public that Doña Ana County’s vote tally doesn’t include absentee ballots. They are added to the totals the next afternoon, and Democratic congressional candidate Xochitl Torres Small declares victory.
NOV. 6, 2018: Election Day. Republican congressional candidate Yvette Herrell gives a victory speech, based on partial unofficial results. Some news outlets call the race for her, too.
SEPT. 11, 2018: Amanda López Askin is appointed Doña Ana County clerk, less than a month before absentee voting starts.
SEPT. 5, 2018: An internal investigation determines that an intimate relationship between County Clerk Scott Krahling and an employee in his office had a “negative impact” on other Clerk’s Office employees.
AUG. 29, 2018: Doña Ana County Clerk Scott Krahling resigns abruptly. His resignation is effective Sept. 7.
AUGUST 2014: A judge denies a petition filed by state Rep. Mary Helen Garcia, who had alleged she lost the primary election because of fraudulent absentee ballots. Her case focused on the high number of absentee ballots cast in two Sunland Park precincts. The court hears hours of testimony by handwriting experts before rejecting Garcia’s case.
NOVEMBER 2008: On Election Day, state election officials say they will investigate why it took so long for voters in Las Cruces and elsewhere to receive requested absentee ballots.
NOVEMBER 2004: Eightysix ballots — after having been locked in a bathroom at the county courthouse — are finally counted in Doña Ana County, ending New Mexico’s vote count and allowing the state to certify its tally.
JUNE 2004: Just before a meeting to certify the primary election results, election workers find six uncounted ballots at the bottom of a trash bag used to transport ballots. Two more ballots are found later, after the results are certified. Two county commissioners say it appears that someone was fabricating ballots or trying to destroy them.
SEPTEMBER 2003: Doña Ana County officials miscalculate when adding up the “no” votes on seven machines used in tallying absentee and early, in-person votes for a special election.
SEPTEMBER 2002: A court orders the temporary suspension of Doña Ana County Clerk Ruben Ceballos, less than six weeks before the general election, on grounds that he’s unfit for office. He is later convicted of five felony violations of the state election code, including failing to file voter registrations on time.
JUNE 2002: A shortage of poll workers forces the Doña Ana County Clerk’s Office to hire at least a half-dozen homeless or formerly homeless people.
NOVEMBER 2000: Officials in Doña Ana County discover they misread an absentee ballot total by 500 votes and correct the error. The change puts Al Gore in the lead for New Mexico’s electoral votes amid an incredibly close presidential election.
OCTOBER 2000: The Clerk’s Office says it will review whether some absentee ballots were mailed to the wrong addresses.
NOVEMBER 1996: In one precinct, a voting machine has the name of the wrong legislative candidates, a mistake that isn’t discovered and corrected until after 66 people have voted.